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Impact of roadside agriculture on subsistence hunting in the Ituri forest of northeastern Zaire
Author(s) -
Wilkie David S.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.1330780404
Subject(s) - subsistence agriculture , geography , fauna , human settlement , climax community , population , agriculture , climax , secondary forest , agroforestry , habitat , ecology , forestry , archaeology , biology , demography , sociology , ecological succession
Abstract Records of 428 hunter captures were used to assess if large areas of secondary forest surrounding roadside horticulturalists' settlements were successfully exploited for wild game, a primary source of protein in the diet of the local human population. Data show that such forest within the Ituri region of Zaire is frequently and successfully exploited for wild game by subsistence hunters. Fauna exploited and capture weights are comparable from hunts conducted in secondary and climax forest. This study concludes that areas of regrowth forest surrounding horticulturalists' villages can and do provide substantial quantities of wild game for consumption by local inhabitants. Whether exploited faunal populations could withstand the more intensive exploitation associated with higher human population densities and widespread market hunting is, however, questionable.